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Charactosuchus
| image = Image:Charactosuchus_map.png | caption = Map of the locations where fossils were found. | regnum = Animalia | phylum = Chordata | classis = Sauropsida | superordo = Crocodylomorpha | ordo = Crocodilia | familia = Crocodylidae | genus = Charactosuchus Langston, 1965 | species = * C. fieldsi Langston, 1965 (type) * C. fisheri * ?C. kugleri Berg, 1969 * C. sansoai Souza Filho, 1991 * C. mendesi Souza Filho and Bocquentin, 1989 }} Charactosuchus is an extinct genus of crocodilian. It was assigned to the family Crocodylidae in 1988.Carroll, R. L.(1988). Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution. WH Freeman and Company, New York ISBN 0-7167-1822-7 Specimens have been found from Colombia, Brazil, Jamaica, and possibly Florida and South Carolina. It was gharial-like in appearance with its long narrow snout but bore no relation to them, being more closely related to modern crocodiles than to gharials.Langston, W. (1965). Fossil crocodilians from Colombia and the Cenozoic history of the Crocodilia in South America. University of California Publications in Geological Sciences 52:1-169. Species The type species, C. fieldsi, has been found from the Villavieja Formation of Colombia and dates back to the mid Miocene. It has also been found from the Solimões Formation in Acre State, Brazil,Cozzuol, M. A. (2006). The Acre vertebrate fauna: Age, diversity, and geography. Journal of South American Earth Sciences 21:185-203 along with C. sansoai,Souza Filho, J. P. (1991). Charactosuchus sansaoi, uma nova espécie de Crocodilidae (Crocodylia) do Neógeno do Estado o Acre, Brasil. Actas do XII Congreso Brasileiro de Paleontologia, 36. C. fisheri,Bocquentin, Jean & Melo, Janira (2006): Stupendemys souzai sp. nov. (Pleurodira, Podocnemididae) from the Miocene-Pliocene of the Solimões Formation, Brazil. Revista Brasileira de Paleontologia 9'(2): 187-192. and ''C. mendesi (originally assigned to Brasilosuchus''Souza Filho, J.P. and Bocquentin, J. 1989. ''Brasilosuchus mendensi n.g., n.sp., um novo representante da familia Gavialidae do Neógeno do Estado do Acre, Brasil. Anais do XI Congreso Brasiliero de Paleontologia '''1:457–463.). In 1969, a lower jaw of a crocodilian that dated back to the Lutetian stage of the Eocene was found in Saint James Parish, Jamaica, and was described as belonging to a new genus of Charactosuchus named C. kugleri''Donovan, S. K., Domning, D. P., Garcia, F. A. and Dixon, H. L. (1990). A bone bed from the Eocene of Jamaica. ''Journal of Paleontology '''64':660-662.Portell, R. W., Donovan, S. K., and Domning, D. P. (2001). Early Tertiary vertebrate fossils from seven Rivers, Parish of St. James, Jamaica, and their biogegraphical implications. Biogeography of the West Indies 191-200. However, this species may be considered synonymous with Dollosuchus, according to later papersDomning, D. P. and Clark, J. M. (1993). Jamaican Tertiary marine Vertebrata. In: R.M. Wright and E. Robinson (eds.), Biostratigraphy of Jamaica. Geolog− ical Society of America Memoir 182:413–415.. Isolated teeth thought to be from the genus have been found from Florida and South Carolina and are of early Pliocene ageWebb, S.D. and Tessman, N. (1967). Vertebrate evidence of a low sea level in the middle Pliocene. Science 156:379.. This was thought to be evidence of the interchange between North and South American faunas, with the genus first appearing in North America and then migrating down into Colombia and BrazilEstes, R. and Báez, A. (19850. Herpetofaunas of North and South America during the Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic: evidence for interchange? In: F.G. Stehli and S.D. Webb (eds.), The Great American Biotic Interchange, 139–197. Plenum Press, New York.. This theory is no longer acceptedLangston, W. and Gasparini, Z. (1997). Crocodilians, Gryposuchus and the South American gavials. In: R.F. Kay, R.H. Madden, R.L. Cifelli, and J. Flynn (eds.), Vertebrate Paleontology in the Neotropics. The Miocene fauna of La Venta, Colombia, 113–154. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington., although the presence of '' Charactosuchus'' from Jamaica may suggest a European origin, with the genus migrating across either the De Geer or Thule land bridgesAgustí, J. and Antón, B. 2002. Mammoths, Sabretooths and Hominids: 65 Million Years of Mammalian Evolution in Europe. 313 pp. Columbia Univ. Press, New York.. References External links * [http://paleodb.org/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?action=checkTaxonInfo&taxon_no=38440&is_real_user=1 Charactosuchus] in the Paleobiology Database Category:Paleogene crocodylomorpha Category:Neogene crocodylomorpha Category:Prehistoric reptiles of North America Category:Prehistoric reptiles of South America